A quote on the cover of Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook loudly proclaims it as escapist fiction, although I’m hesitant to slap that label on it. Yes, it transports the reader to another time and place, but it does more than distract – it educates! Pook herself is a journalist and traveler, and […] The post Book Review: Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook appeared first on i've read this ..read more

Shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award for Fiction, the Amazon Canada First Novel Award and the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas is sure to be on many Canadian bookshelves these days. I was lucky to have received an ARC back when it was first released at the […] The post Book Review: In the Upper Country by Kai Thomas appeared first on i've read this ..read more

I wanted to fit this book into my current reading queue as I was delighted to discover it was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and already sitting on my bookshelf. Wait Softly Brother by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer is a (somewhat?) experimental novel, one that I wasn’t exactly sure I fully grasped, but found myself getting […] The post Book Review: Wait Softly Brother by Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer appeared first on i've read this ..read more

I wasn’t surprised to see David Bergen’s latest book Away From the Dead make the Scotibank Giller Prize longlist this year. He’s a serious writer, with seriously impressive award wins and nominations in his past. I last read a book of his in 2014, which you can read my review of here, and I felt […] The post Book Review: Away From the Dead by David Bergen appeared first on i've read this ..read more

I was in need of a lighter story that I knew would whisk me away into a well-developed plot. Also: books about books!!! The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry is a work of historical fiction focusing on the mystery of a lost story and its connection to a lost girl, set […] The post Book Review: The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry appeared first on i've read this ..read more

The blurb depicting The Nightingale Affair by Tim Mason as a “Victorian detective thriller” is what influenced me the most, as I was in the mood to read a classic mystery after a few of the modern domestic thrillers I had been through recently. I was delighted by the moody puzzle of this book; the […] The post Book Review: The Nightingale Affair by Tim Mason appeared first on i've read this ..read more

A great big doorstop of a book, Homecoming by Kate Morton was a work of historical fiction I had to prepare myself for. Some people love the prospect of digging into a giant family saga such as this, but I was hesitant about the length. It’s one of those historical books that switches back and […] The post Book Review: Homecoming by Kate Morton appeared first on i've read this ..read more

I’m very happy to report that I hunted down this book through the Calgary Public Library system after reading and enjoying a review of it from Marcie at Buried in Print, perhaps one of the best-read people in the world (those of you who follow her blog know I’m not exaggerating, she reads hundreds of […] The post Book Review: From the Wreck by Jane Rawson appeared first on i've read this ..read more

Because it’s February, I’ve chosen three books to read that all center on the topic of love and marriage for my latest radio segment (it’s showbiz folks, you don’t need to be that creative!). The first was The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell, which I dug out of my bookshelf after reading a very insightful […] The post Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell appeared first on i've read this ..read more

Just in time for Christmas, I received the third and latest installment in the Paradise Café Mystery series, Cold Snap by Maureen Jennings. Although not truly a holiday tale (it’s quite dark) it does happen to take place right before Christmas, and as I read it, Calgary was experiencing its own cold snap, so it […] The post Book Review: Cold Snap by Maureen Jennings appeared first on i've read this ..read more